Powerful. Provocative. Disturbing. Those are the words I’d use to describe Marcie R. Rendon’s standalone, Where They Last Saw Her. The author of the Cash Blackbear series returns to a familiar theme, #mmiw. Missing or Murdered Indian Women. U.S. and Canadian statistics show over 4,000 women in each country are missing or murdered. Rendon’s novel puts a personal face on those losses.
Quill has lived on the Red Pine reservation in Minnesota her entire life. But, she was young when she saw Jimmy Sky jump off a railway bridge and she ran for help. Quill has been running ever since. Despite her marriage to Crow, a good man, and their two children, she can’t quell her feelings of anxiety unless she’s running. She’s training for the Boston Marathon when she hears a scream in the woods one morning. Now, she can’t even escape through her running. Crow doesn’t want her to run alone, and she’s afraid she heard another woman kidnapped or murdered. But, the tribal police don’t seem up to the task of finding a missing woman.
Quill enlists the help of two friends, Punk and Gaylin. The women uncover a story of a Native woman who has disappeared, but they’re also on the scene when two white men try to drag a drugged woman from the local casino. She’s saved, but her friend, Lisa, is missing. Quill won’t stop running or investigating, until she finds answers. And, she suspects she’s followed. It’s not safe for any Native women with the “man camps” set up for the men working the nearby pipelines. They have money and time to burn, and Native women around in large numbers.
Although Quill and Gaylin rescue one woman, a friend goes missing. And Quill’s husband is furious that she won’t let go and allow the police to investigate. Without the support at home, Quill is shocked to learn that the elders, the women of the reservation, are supporting her, as a runner and as one who won’t let go in searching for the missing women.
Where They Last Saw Her is a disturbing book, and it should be. Although several women are rescued, there are too many kidnappings and disappearances that continue. Once again, it’s women who fight back when no one will fight for them. With a long history of exploitation, indigenous women have reason to be angry and afraid.
Marcie Rendon’s website is www.marcierendon.com.
Where They Last Saw Her by Marcie R. Rendon. Bantam, 2024. ISBN 9780593496527 (hardcover), 315p.
FTC Full Disclosure – I bought a copy of the book.
